Watch Paparazzi

Royal Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani spotted wearing Patek Philippe

Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee and a fixture on the international sporting and diplomatic circuit, appeared on Instagram wearing a Patek Philippe 5712G-001 in white gold — a piece that sits quietly at the upper tier of the Geneva manufacture's dress-sport offerings and demands a second look from anyone who knows what they're seeing.

Introduced at SIHH 2019, the 5712G evolved from the aesthetic language of the earlier 5712 series while pushing the design vocabulary further. The 42mm white gold case features triple-stepped lugs and syringe hands — details borrowed from the brand's mid-century archive — framing a matte dark blue dial that resists flash in favour of depth. Guilloché-textured pushers activate the moonphase and date functions with a tactile precision that justifies the complications alone. The movement inside is Patek's Calibre 240 PS IRM C LU, a self-winding micro-rotor movement with a power reserve indicator, instantaneous date, and moonphase accurate to one day's deviation every 122 years.

For collectors, the 5712G occupies a specific and competitive niche. It is not a Nautilus, yet it borrows the same sports-inflected confidence. It is not a dress watch in the traditional sense, yet it wears as one at state dinners. That ambiguity has historically kept secondary market prices disciplined compared to the hysteria around reference 5711 or 5726 — making it, paradoxically, one of the more obtainable grails in the Patek ecosystem, at least in relative terms.

Sheikh Joaan is no stranger to fine watchmaking. The Qatari royal family has long been associated with serious horological collecting, and this particular choice — understated white gold over yellow, blue dial over silver — reads as a deliberate, considered selection rather than an impulse toward maximum visibility.

At a retail price of $73,700 USD, the 5712G-001 sits at a level where grey-market premiums remain present but measured. Current secondary market values place the reference in the $85,000–$95,000 range depending on condition and provenance, reflecting steady demand without the speculative frenzy that has distorted other Patek references in recent years.